


Gotta Catch 'Em All! (or not)

by chenziee



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Eren has an army of eeveelutions and he's not ashamed, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Human Eren Yeager, M/M, Pokemon AU, Pokemon Trainer Eren, merman levi, ughhh, what else do i tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-18
Updated: 2019-10-18
Packaged: 2020-12-21 12:47:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21075128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chenziee/pseuds/chenziee
Summary: Eren was just trying to get to through the forest to get to the town but he wasn't excactly counting on his sense of direction (or lack there of.)He was never this glad to get lost.





	Gotta Catch 'Em All! (or not)

**Author's Note:**

> HAPPY <strike>BELATED</strike> BIRTHDAY SOAPY!!  
We all love you and you deserve everything good in the world for your special day <33
> 
> I hope you like this little story :)
> 
> A big shoutout to [**DatWriterWannaBe**](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DatWriterWannaBe/pseuds/DatWriterWannaBe) for brainstorming with me and being a wonderful beta <3

"Stupid goddamn forest," Eren grumbled to himself when he finally found his way out of the maze of trees. He had been trying to get out of the place for hours but it seemed like the small path he was following would go on forever.

That, or his sense of direction was far worse than he would have liked to believe.

Either way, he was really damn glad he seemed to make it out. He was  _ done  _ with this forest. If he wasn’t avoiding swarms of angry Beedrills, he was being chased by Ledybas or threatened by a Pidgey or twenty. This forest was crazy and Eren was determined to walk around next time.

He really was just glad to be out of there.

But where was he anyway? He had  _ planned _ to go to the town that was at the edge of the forest but after going in circles for who knows how long, he managed to end up somewhere  _ completely  _ different. Taking in his surroundings, he realized he had found himself by a large lake, one so big he couldn’t even see the opposite side of the mass of water. The only sign it actually wasn’t the ocean was the lack of salt in the air.

A quiet little mewl came from somewhere around his feet and Eren looked down, smiling warmly at the only one of his pokemon that wasn’t too lazy to keep him company during the long track, walking with him the whole time instead of hiding inside the pokeball like the others.

The sparkles in his Eevee's eyes made Eren chuckle; he was such a cute, excitable ball of energy, ready to explore anytime and anywhere. "You wanna go play?"

The excited mewl accompanied by a large nod was enough for Eren to drop his bag and take off his shoes, ready to jump in the water and get soaking wet right along with the fluffy pokemon.

"You think the others will like it here?" Eren asked, even though nobody was listening to him anymore. Eren shook his head fondly at the loud splashing that was already filling the air, the Eevee having jumped in as soon as Eren's bag hit the ground. "We'll see, I guess," Eren shrugged to himself before gathering all the inhabited pokeballs to let the rest of his friends out.

One after the other, the pokemon appeared, some of them darting into the water without any regard for their owner, others at least stopping by to greet Eren on their way to join the others – while some immediately turned away from the water in disgust.

Eren just had to smile at the face his Umbreon made before she walked away to a patch of fresh, bright green grass that was well lit by the sun. The little thing was acting so standoffish, pretending as if this all was above her while Eren knew she was simply still not used to playing and being as carefree as the others were. Eren knew she would slowly come around but for now, it was too cute watching her pretend to act cool.

Then there was Glaceon, who was standing timedly on the sand where the water barely reached, looking like he was fighting with himself whether to go in or not. Poor boy, wanting to play but too scared of the water to go and join his friends. It wouldn’t take long before he would join Umbreon while she sunbathed, happy enough to quietly watch over the others with her.

Ironically enough, Flareon was the exact opposite of Glaceon; the fire type was wet to the last hair within seconds, uncaring of how vulnerable and weak the water made him.

Eren just had to chuckle to himself. These kids were so ridiculous sometimes.

He watched over the group of playing pokemon with a happy, content smile for a long while, and he kept smiling even when he had to wince while Leafeon tried not-so-gently to shoo away Sylveon, who was, as usual, trying very hard to impress Leafeon’s ‘'best friend' Jolteon.

Complicated love lives aside, looking at them playing like this made Eren almost forget they were all originally rescued from abusive owners and in a terrible state when Eren first took each of them in. It was amazing seeing them overcome their own problems and traumas, supporting each other unconditionally whenever one of them needed it.

Despite the half-hearted attempts to drown each other every once in a while.

Eren huffed in resigned amusement at the way Sylveon flailed, when Leafeon jumped on him, making Vaporeon glare at them both with a half-hearted growl. Maybe it was time to calm them all down a little bit.

However, before Eren could make his way over to the fighting duo, his Eevee cried out in surprise, making everyone present jump into a defensive stance, ready to fight any unwelcome visitors who would dare attack them. Eren scanned the area with his eyes, looking for any disturbances along the water surface around where the Eevee stood and growled lightly at something, his fur puffed up to make him seem bigger.

It only took a minute of complete silence before something happened. It moved almost too fast for Eren to catch a glimpse of the large, long, grey tail but it was definitely there. It looked like some kind of water pokemon living in the lake and the trainer instincts that had been lying dormant in Eren for the past few years woke up.

Eren had to catch it.

Fishing in his pockets for an empty pokeball, he carefully stalked forward towards the centre of the ripples – the place where the tail disappeared from his view; he hoped the mysterious pokemon would still be close by since he didn’t fancy swimming anywhere too far into the depths of the enormous lake. He carefully gestured to his Vaporeon, who simply nodded before diving into the water to check the perimeter.

The water type pokemon surfaced only a few seconds after he had disappeared with another firm nod and pointed to the right of where the group stood, following the shoreline. Lucky.

Eren slowly exited the water as to not alert the creature in it, breaking into a run as soon as he was on dry land. He watched the water intently, on the lookout for the sparkling tail he saw while simultaneously glancing at his Vaporeon periodically to guide him. He ran quite a distance from where he started, several of his pokemon running after him to back him up, until Vaporeon cried out from where he kept watch. Eren stopped at the signal, straining his eyes to see below the sparkling surface, searching for the pokemon he was set on catching.

His Umbreon was the first to join him, walking ahead of him and sniffing cautiously at the wet sand and the water that came up to her in waves. Eren watched expectantly as she raised her head a tiny bit, cocking it to one side, than the other, staring at the mass of water intently.

It didn’t take her long to look up at Eren silently, her focused, clear gaze enough to assure Eren they were in the right place, before she took up a fighting stance and tapped her front foot three times. Three meters from where she was facing.

Eren glanced back at his other pokemon, all as ready to fight as Umbreon was. He exhaled slowly, enlarging the pokeball in his hand and gripping it tightly.

This was it. They would get the pokemon, whatever it was.

Eren kneeled at his Umbreon’s side, careful the creature they were after wouldn’t hear them when he whispered his instructions to her. Umbreon mewled quietly in understanding, her rings lighting up as she prepared for her attack. She took a step back and Eren got ready to throw his pokeball at any second.

A moment later, Umbreon lunged forward, moving so fast she basically disappeared into thin air. The only evidence of her feint attack were the tiny splashes of water left behind as she ran towards her target, attacking it fast and with frightening accuracy, before retreating immediately and materializing back at Eren’s side seemingly out of nowhere.

The reaction was immediate. The pokemon hiding in the water moved, jumping backwards powerfully to dive back in and probably swim away. That’s what Eren was waiting for. He threw his pokeball at the sparkling, grey tail before it disappeared, praying that he wouldn’t miss.

Eren, along with all his pokemon, stood there with a bated breath while the red and white ball flew through the air. It seemed like hours before it finally made contact but then, finally, the ball bumped off of the steel coloured scales and opened up, its red beam enveloping the creature and sucking it in before it resolutely closed around it.

Eren couldn’t help the cheer that left his lips. It’s been so long since he had last caught a pokemon that he had almost forgotten what an exhilarating feeling it was. His Umbreon standing next to him relaxed as well, letting out a quiet huff while all the other pokemon cheered loudly right along with Eren.

Eren ran forward, splashing water everywhere as tried to catch the pokeball before it hit the water and sank to the sandy bottom. His fingers curled along the cool, smooth surface at the last second but before he could actually grip it, the ball burst open once more, the pokemon inside falling out and back into the water with a huge splash, drenching Eren from head to toe.

“Fucking hell.”

“ _ Shit, _ ” Eren cried, taken by complete surprise both by the sudden appearance of the pokemon and the cold, thorough shower he got.

_ Wait _ .

Eren froze a split second later, finally realizing that he _ wasn’t the only one cursing _ .

He blinked a few times, looking around with confusion as he searched for the source of the other voice, voice that was much deeper and more vulgar than Eren’s own and whose owner he somehow hadn’t noticed before.

“Down here, you little shit,” came a growl from the other unknown person _ . _

The voice seemed to be coming from the area  _ around his knees  _ and involuntarily, Eren followed it to look down, his eyes going wide with shock.

This creature… didn’t look like any pokemon Eren had seen before. It looked like a hybrid between a grey coloured Seel and a… a _ human. _ Eren didn’t understand what he was seeing so he blurted out the first thing on his mind. “What the hell kind of pokemon is this,” he wondered out loud, his voice sounding maybe a little too high pitched.

The pokemon, or whatever the hell it was, scoffed, levelling Eren with an impassive stare, “I’m  _ not  _ a fucking pokemon. Are you stupid?” 

Eren wanted to be offended but he felt like he didn’t even have the brain capacity to  _ be  _ offended right then. 

The not-pokemon continued, “More importantly, have you  _ ever _ cleaned inside that thing?” It gestured half-heartedly at the pokeball, open and abandoned, sadly floating on the water a few feet away from them. “It’s filthier inside than it is at the bottom of the fucking lake around the town.”

Eren could only stare at the creature blankly, mouth agape, unable to process what the hell he was seeing right in front of him. What was even happening; what  _ was  _ this creature and why was it scolding him over the cleanliness of his goddamn pokeballs?

“What? How?” he questioned weakly, not even sure what exactly he was asking. “I’m so confused.”

The creature eyed him lazily for a moment before a small, amused smirk appeared on its lips. “I take it you haven’t heard about the mermen that live in this lake?”

Eren shook his head. He didn’t even know where he was exactly, much less know any information about the lake. He  _ did _ get a tiny bit lost, after all. “I didn’t even know mermen were a thing.”

The creature – merman – snorted. “Obviously. I’m Levi, by the way.”

“Eren,” he replied automatically, even though his head was still spinning from all the happenings in the past minute.

“Okay, introductions are out of the way. Great.  _ Now,  _ can you do something about these shitty pokemon?” the merman called Levi asked with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

Eren frowned, not sure what he meant, but then he got a proper look at their surroundings and couldn’t stop the laugh that burst out of him. Levi was lying in the water, propped up on his elbows… with all of Eren’s pokemon huddled around him and sniffing him, full of caution and curiosity. Eren couldn’t help but think what an adorable sight it was; the merman was scowling, obviously unhappy, while a group of fluffy, colourful pokemon poked and nudged at him all over.

“The fuck are you laughing at,” Levi growled at the laughing pokemon owner, baring his teeth threateningly.

Only then did Eren notice the row of incredibly sharp teeth that had been hidden by the merman’s thin lips and he felt a shiver run down his spine. Those looked damn dangerous and Eren wasn’t very keen on finding out exactly  _ how _ dangerous they were. He gulped the primal fear down before quickly ushering his pokemon away. “Okay, guys, give the nice merman some space.”

The pokemon all whined in complaint, unhappy about having their new interesting ‘toy’ taken away. It broke Eren’s heart to shoo them away when they were giving him those puppy eyes but it was true they were beíing rude. So, despite his better judgment, he stomped on his heart and put on the sternest expression he was capable of as he pointed towards to shore.

Finally, the pokemon shuffled away slowly, although it didn’t go without some more whining and grumbling. Eren kept watch on them until they all lined up obediently on the sand, watching Eren and Levi with accusing stares from afar.

Eren sighed. They were seriously impossible. “I’m sorry about them, they act as if they have no manners sometimes.”

“Well, they are not the ones who tried to trap me inside a tiny, filthy ball,” Levi noted offhandedly and Eren felt a blush raising to his cheeks.

“I’m sorry, okay?! I honestly thought you were a pokemon!” It wasn’t his fault the only thing he could see was the long tail; of  _ course _ he was going to think it was some kind of a rare pokemon. Hell, he didn’t even know mermen were a thing until five minutes ago!

Levi gave him a deadpan look. “So you regularly attack and try to capture random wild pokemon against their will? Did you catch those ones that way too?” he asked as he nodded towards the group of pokemon waiting not-so-patiently off to the side, his tone flat with only the faintest hint of annoyance that Eren almost missed.

Eren puffed up at the accusation. How dare this guy – or merman, whatever – judge him like this without knowing anything? “I have  _ never _ kept any pokemon against their will. And for the record, I rescued all of  _ them _ from abusive trainers and fucking  _ breeders _ ,” Eren hissed, his voice getting more and more icy with every word. From the corner of his eyes, he could see 

Umbreon, Eevee, and Vaporeon standing up, reacting to his anger and ready to run back to him at a moment’s notice. Eren half-heartedly waved them off, letting them know he was fine as he continued glaring at the merman.

The two of them stared at each other in complete silence for a while, neither moving a muscle, until finally, the merman huffed out a small laugh, “Not bad, kid.”

Seeing the merman actually smile, Eren couldn’t help but relax as well, cracking a small grin of his own. And finally, he took a moment to actually look at Levi for the first time.

Eren was honestly taken aback by how stunning the merman was. There was a seemingly permanent frown on his face but his grey eyes were sharp and pierced deep into Eren’s own, his hair the deepest black Eren had seen, styled in an undercut with the longer hair swept back by the water, only a few strands falling down to frame Levi’s face as they slowly dried. His human upper body was well build, the muscles well defined and obviously incredibly strong. The skin covering those muscles was milky pale and looking incredibly soft to the touch until it reached the area around his waist where it slowly transitioned into the steel grey scales that covered Levi’s long, thick, powerful looking tail. Eren absentmindedly wondered how far and how fast Levi could swim with a single sweep of that tail.

As his eyes slowly moved back up Levi’s body, he couldn’t help but let his gaze linger on the single scar running down Levi’s back. Eren wanted to know how he got it; it looked deep, old and painful. It was obviously a serious wound when it was fresh and Eren wanted to run his fingers over it gently to make sure it didn’t hurt anymore.

“Like what you see?”

Eren jumped at the amused voice, almost slipping and falling face first into the lake water. He didn’t even realize he was staring but… he had to admit he  _ did _ like what he saw, if only to himself. Levi was damn beautiful, as bizarre as seeing a half human half fish for the first time in his life was.

Still, how embarrassing was it to be caught ogling the merman – or anyone – like that? Eren felt a blush slowly forming and he had to try very hard to fight off the urge to cover his face with his hands in shame.

“I’ve never even heard about mermen, can you blame me?” Eren retorted in his defense. No one had to know that was only half of the reason he couldn’t tear his eyes away, right?

A smirk pulled on Levi’s lips at his words and Eren hated how it made the butterflies in his stomach go completely crazy. “You’re pretty cute, kid,” Levi noted, and Eren was surprised by how...  _ happy  _ the simple comment made him.

Maybe this could be the start of something. 

Eren didn’t know what the future held for either of them, didn’t know if this would end up being a good or a bad thing, but when he was sitting on the sand at the edge the lake hours later, surrounded by his pokemon, Umbreon and Eevee curled up and sleeping soundly against Levi’s tail as he and the merman talked about everything and nothing, he couldn’t bring himself to care.

In the distance, the sun was setting, its warm, orange glow reflecting off the water surface and making each small wave come to life, creating the illusion of a million brilliant stars being scattered all around them, just within reach. The view was breathtaking, even more so when Eren looked to the side only for his eyes to meet with Levi’s. The colours of twilight were playing on Levi skin, his scales, his eyes, making everything about him look ethereal.

It was beautiful.  _ Levi  _ was beautiful and Eren was never this happy to have gotten lost.

**Author's Note:**

> There might or might not be more to this AU eventually as there are little tidbits I have come up with that didn't make it into the story. But we'll see...
> 
> <strike>Petition to make your or Roxi's birthday in like.... June next year.</strike>


End file.
